This invention relates to a resilient seating structure, and particularly relates to a seating structure which provides buoyant seating for a user sitting on the seating structure, and further particularly relates to a seating structure which is rockable by the user.
Many types of currently available seating structures provide a user with resilient seating accommodations. Such structures typically include some form of support, with resilient structure, directly beneath the area where the user sits. The resilient structure could include various types of springs having compressive properties, various elements having resilient properties, and the like, all of which are compressed when the user is seated on the seating structure and which return to a normal extension when the user withdraws from the seating structure. Some seating structures of the present include facility which allow the user to rock the structures.
An example of a seating structure with a resilient and a rockable seating area is disclosed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,568, which issued to Stephen T. Brightbill and David W. Flesner on Jun. 22, 1999. The seating structure of this patent includes two, identical, moving seat assemblies, which are located side by side, and which, in their entirety, define a seating area of the structure. Each seating assembly includes a seat platform situated on resilient structure located only directly beneath the seating area of the seating structure. The resilient structure includes any of several types of “motion mechanisms” which could be pneumatic (e.g., air bladder), hydraulic, magnetic, or motorized mechanisms. The “motion mechanisms” could also include springs having a variety of configurations as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,568.
Another example of a seating structure having a resilient seating area is disclosed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,095, which issued to Richard C. Robertshaw on Oct. 31, 2000. The seating structure of this patent also includes two, identical, moving seat assemblies, which are located side by side, and which, in their entirety, define a seating area. In one embodiment, each seating assembly includes a seat platform situated on a plurality of flexible rubber balls located only directly beneath the seating area of the seating structure.
Each of the seating structures described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,913,568 and 6,139,095 include two platforms which form the seat area for receipt of the left and right buttocks, and portions of the respective left and right thighs, of the user of the seating structure. The resilient structure below the two platforms, in each patent, allows the raising and lowering of one platform relative to the other platform, and a tilting or rocking effect of each platform, to accommodate the leaning and shifting action of the user seated in the seat area. This accommodation results from the placement of the resilient structure only directly beneath the seat area, thereby exerting a force directly toward the buttocks and thighs of the user.
While the seating structures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,913,568 and 6,139,095 provide a useful function and purpose, there is a need for a seating structure which does not apply a force directly toward the seated anatomy of the user. Also, there is a need for a seating structure which provides a feeling of buoyancy for the user of the seating structure. Further, there is a need for a seating structure which is rockable, while providing a feeling of buoyancy.